This Turkey Tuesday is about the vanishing act, something many turkey hunters seem to encounter each spring. As the season approaches, we scout, find vocal birds, and anticipate the opening day. The season starts and once hunting pressure ramps up, some of those birds we located weeks before seem to vanish. Well, research has shown that the vanishing act is a combination of several factors. One, obviously some vocal birds are being harvested so total numbers of toms are declining – in particular, toms that hang out near places hunters use to access properties and open areas are disproportionately shot. Two, remaining birds often gobble less, as research has clearly shown that gobbling activity declines once hunting pressure ramps up – so some birds haven’t vacated, they simply gobble little or potentially, not at all. Three, toms appear to have different strategies to react to hunting activity – some hunker down and behave differently, but some individuals immediately move to areas of their home range with less pressure. In fact, on a public study site with heavy hunting pressure, research showed that toms strongly avoided locations that were likely to be used by hunters as soon as hunting began – but returned to behaving as they did prior to hunting by the end of the season. The take home is the vanishing act is a combination of several responses toms take to react to hunting pressure and navigate a risky time of year.
Pic by Tom Martineau
